Carpenter licensure would not make carpentry more professional, it would only create new and unneeded red tape.
ABC strongly opposes some carpenter licensure schemes that have been introduced in Michigan because they result in burdensome mandates that would raise the cost of construction without benefiting a single taxpayer, business, project owner or carpenter.

In Michigan quality of construction is overseen by the Michigan Bureau of Construction Codes (BCC), which is the way it should be. The BCC is in place to “assure that the built environment and the systems within are sound, safe and sanitary; building users' health, safety and welfare are protected; and that, through a coordinated program of code compliance, investigation and training, there is consistent application of standards.”

Some recent efforts would have even altered the definition of a carpenter to include other trades that do not perform traditional carpentry, just so they would have to also be subjected to licensure. Unfairly, such efforts have previously attempted to create a state carpentry board that would potentially be union-only, ignoring that 82% of the Michigan construction workforce chooses to not belong to a union.

ABC opposes schemes like this carpenter licensure scheme that would subject craft professionals to an additional layer of bureaucracy with no added benefit.

ABC of Michigan is a statewide trade association representing the commercial and industrial construction industries. Dedicated to open competition, equal opportunity and accountability in construction, ABC members develop people, win work and deliver that work safely, ethically, profitably and for the betterment of the communities in which ABC and its members work.